Current News- Click Here!

President Wade
Allen —This year’s theme at
the BMA of Arkansas will be “Experiencing Grace through Pain and Suffering.” On
Thursday, Nov. 7, we will gather together to conduct the business of the BMA of
Arkansas, but we will also be gathering to fellowship and encourage one another
in the work to which we have been called. We hope you will take the time to
join us for this meeting. We recognize that your schedules are hectic, but our
goal is to provide you with valuable training while you are there. So in
addition to the times of business and worship, we will be offering several
breakout sessions that will help equip you to serve our Lord through the local
church. These breakout sessions will begin at 1 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 7. Those
in attendance will be able to choose two sessions to attend. More information
about each session will be published in the coming weeks. We look forward to
seeing you there!

* U of A ABS Director Announces Retirement
(pg. 1)

Wade Allen – In
1977, a young man from South Louisiana found himself in the land of the
Razorbacks. He was approached by the leadership of Calvary Baptist Church in
Fayetteville to consider “helping them” with their ministry to young adults
through the Association of Baptist Students (ABS). At that time, the church was
located almost in the shadow of the historic Old Main building on the
University of Arkansas campus.Over
40 years later, Warren Dugas is still ministering to young adults through the
ministry of the ABS at the U of A. This past week, as he reminisced about how
he got started in this ministry, Warren quipped, “This was supposed to only be
a part-time gig!”Now, after 42
years of service to the Association of Baptist Students, Warren Dugas has made
the difficult decision that it is time to retire. He will continue to serve
until Dec. 31 to give the Board of Directors time to search for a new director.
In a time when a decade is considered to be a lengthy tenure in any ministry
position, Warren has faithfully served in this position for more than four
decades!

*New, Enhanced
Curriculum Is Well Received; Orders Increase (pg. 1)

Editor -At last year’s BMA of America meeting,
Dr. Charley Holmes was elected to serve as DiscipleGuide executive director,
and will be paid $1 for the time he serves. Our BMA literature is now being
written by BMA Seminary staff and orders are processed through the Seminary,
which is located in Jacksonville, Texas.The new Baptist Publishing House (BPH) fall curriculum is now in our
churches, and last week, I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Charley Holmes
to see how the process was going and about the new literature.He also shared with me that he had
talked to Paul White (executive director of BMA of Arkansas Missions), and BPH
is now offering all BMA of Arkansas
mission churches free Sunday School and Bible study curriculum until they “get
on their feet.” During our interview, Dr. Holmes was very upbeat and I was encouraged
by what he had to say. I hope you will be, too.

* Preaching
Psalms of Ascent (pg. 3)

Clif Johnson -Preaching the Gospel is a calling from
God to men to take their lives and words seriously, proclaiming the Gospel for
the sake of the church. Our aim for The Preaching Lab is to link arms with
other pastors/preachers who seek to do just that — develop spiritually healthy
lives and pulpits.This year’s
Preaching Lab Conference addresses the topic of Preaching the Psalms. Come join
other pastors and preachers as we learn to preach these rich passages of
scripture in a biblically faithful, Christ-centered way. Specifically, we will
be looking at Psalms 121-126, the Psalms of Ascent. By the time you leave this
conference, you will have studied these psalms thoroughly, understanding their
structures and gaining a roadmap to preaching them as a series of sermons.

* SMWR2019 (pg. 2)

Dan Carson – This past weekend, approximately 80 youth workers from around the state and beyond gathered together for the Student Ministry Workers Retreat 2019 (SMWR2019) at Central Baptist College and enjoyed a day of worship, connection, and instruction. Samuel Bierig, from Spurgeon College in the Kansas City area, shared in our main sessions with Echo of Love leading us in worship. We also had breakout groups before lunch that were led by Lori Cline, Chris Selby, David Vandergriff, and Temple Carson. I want to express my gratitude to Central Baptist College for opening their doors and helping us realize our vision of pouring into student ministry workers. CBC Vice-President Ryan Johnson made us feel at home, and Director of Dining Services Jill McCollum and her staff provided outstanding support with our snacks and lunch. If you missed this year’s event, don’t worry — we plan on hosting the third annual Student Ministry Workers Retreat next year at Central Baptist College.

*See
You at the Pole is Sept. 25 (pg. 3)

“IF…” (from II Chron. 7:14) is the theme for See You at the Pole (SYATP) 2019, which is all about students praying at their schools. The event is planned for Wednesday, Sept. 25, at schools around the world. SYATP is more than just one day of prayer. With diverse schedules at participating schools, students are being challenged to find new and unique ways, places and times to pray throughout the Global Week of Student Prayer — Sept. 22-28. Then on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 7 a.m. local time, if possible, students are encouraged to gather at a school flagpole to pray at See You at the Pole. This means that, all around the world in every time zone, for 24 hours, students will be praying for their school, friends, families, churches, and communities.

Why You Should Consider CBC! (pg. 2)

Terry Kimbrow -As the Fall 2019 semester gets underway, we are already
looking toward the Fall of 2020. The recruitment cycle never ends! In a time
where higher education, especially private higher education, is being
questioned and devalued in our society, you may be wondering why you should
consider Central Baptist College for your child or grandchild, or even for
yourself? CBC offers something a public institution cannot — an education that
integrates Christian faith and academic excellence. Higher education
institutions that practice faith integration in the classroom hold the belief
that all truth comes from God. This worldview sees God as the source of truth
for all disciplines, be it mathematics, science, history or any other subject.
Therefore, the student receives a deeper, more thorough education when the
professor is not limited by mandates prohibiting discussions of faith. (Also
see CBC Sports, pg. 2)

Pastor Huddles (pg. 3)

Larry Barker -Pastor and leader, you need a support
group that will pray with you, speak into your life and encourage you. In a
football game, a huddle is where the play is given, everyone knows what needs
to be done next and then you leave the huddle ready to execute the plan as best
you can. You may think you do not have time to meet with other pastors and
leaders, but you actually will be more effective by approaching ministry with a
keen awareness of your need for other leaders speaking into your life. Jesus
focused on huddling His disciples together.

BMMI in the Jungles of Peru (pg. 3)

Angela Rice -The Mighty Jungle — there are no
words to describe the beauty of it. As we traveled the Tambo River, I took a
multitude of pictures, none of which truly captured the beauty of this place. But
the greater beauty came when we docked the boat and moved into the trees where
the most beautiful people are found. You can’t see the villages from the river,
but nestled behind the stunning trees, there is life. The most recent Baptist
Medical Missions International (BMMI) trip was to Peru in August. For the third
year in a row, BMMI was invited there to set up four medical clinics in two new
villages. In addition to making many new friends, we saw almost 500 patients,
with 111 professing Christ as their Savior.

Single (pg. 4)

Dr. John Adams – There is Biblical advice on staying single and living life without a marriage partner. Sometimes our society makes the widowed person, the divorced person or the individual who has never married feel out of place. It may surprise some of the marrieds to know that it can be God’s will for some not to be married. It is time for us all to realize there can be happiness in being single. There are some benefits of remaining single. I have in mind those who have never married or those who have been married but are no longer.

ABS @ SAU Welcomes Students Back to Campus!
(pg. 4)

Chris Lucy -We’ve kicked off both our ABS United
(Monday nights) and ABS Global (Thursday nights) Ministries. It’s exciting to
see how God is blessing us with students, not just from our own county and
local association, but from all over the globe! Our mission statement is
“Serving a Real God… With Real People… Building Real Relationships.” Please
pray for us as we minister to the needs of our students, and more importantly
join me in praying for those who are lost and need Christ! Over the past couple
of years, we have had the joy of seeing students saved and discipled, and some
have surrendered to the ministry. We have even had international students
attend our seminary to learn how to share the Gospel abroad. I’m humbled by the
way God has moved through our students, and I can’t wait to see what He has for
us this year! (southernarkansasabs@gmail.com)

Church
Without Walls in Cayey, Puerto Rico (pg.
4)

CWOW celebrated their 15th
anniversary on Aug. 25. Dr. Alfredo L. Didier has served as pastor since the
church began with 40 members. Their current enrollment is 397, and the average
attendance is 220. Almost 300 people attended their anniversary services.

In the
Eye of the Calm (pg. 5)

Valarie Fish – The sky suddenly darkens, and the
clouds turn a dark shade of gray. “I don’t remember the weatherman saying
anything about rain,” you muse as you check your cell phone for a weather
report. Shelter in place is the plan as the wind whips up and stirs the tree
branches into a frenzy. Storms are scary because, even if you thought you could
predict every nuance of the event, every storm is unique. No storm ever exactly
follows the predicted path, and no matter how close you get to predicting what
may happen, you can never control what happens.

Lois Endicott, Pastor’s Widow,
Dies (pg. 5)

Lois
Irene Endicott 94, of the Dixie Community, passed away Sept. 3. Miss Lois, as
she is affectionately known by her students, was a graduate of Dixie High
School, Jacksonville College in Jacksonville, Texas, and Arkansas State College
in Jonesboro. She was a retired school teacher of 32 years, teaching in the
Dixie Schools and Lake City School System. Her love for Christ and friends was
abundant. She was a kind individual that was loved by all that met her. Lois
loved reading her Bible, quilting and writing in her book, My Inspirational
Booklet. One of her favorite entries is “Do things for people, not for who they
are, or what they do in return, but because of who you are.” Her last quote to
write was “Where God guides, God provides.” She was married to the late
G.W. Endicott for 75 years. Her husband was a BMA pastor, and she was a devoted
pastor’s wife. “Her love of God, her fine Christian example and her desire to
serve her Christian friends has endeared her to all who have had the good
fortune of knowing her.” A graveside service was held Sept. 4 at Nettleton
Cemetery, with Jerry Jolly officiating. In lieu of flowers, Lois’ wishes were
to have donations made to the Baptist
Trumpet, P.O. Box 192208, Little Rock, Ark. 72219.

Jolly Marks 60 Years in Ministry (pg. 5)

Tenth
Street Baptist Church in Paragould recently honored their pastor, Jerry Jolly,
with a fellowship marking his 60th anniversary in the ministry. He
surrendered to preach in January 2019 at Hopewell Baptist Church, and was
ordained in September of that year. As he reminisced about his ministry, Bro.
Jolly shared these thoughts: “God has blessed me in a mighty way with the
privilege of pastoring 17 different churches in my ministry; all of them short
periods with the exception of Temple Baptist in Jonesboro, where I pastored for
28 years. He has blessed me with the joy of seeing 4,119 people coming into the
fellowship of those churches. He has blessed me
with the privilege of preaching 635 revivals and meetings. He has also
blessed me with some unique experiences.”

Still Shouting Over VBS (pg. 6)

Jeff Knowlton -The Lord called us to Little River
Baptist Church on Sept. 11, 2016. One morning while over at the church, I
switched the light on in a Sunday School classroom that had not been used in a
long time. The glue was dried up in the bottles, the water paint pads were
cracked, and the posters on the walls had faded. My heart dropped to see that
this little country church was losing its younger generations. One day, as my
wife and I walked down the hallway to the fellowship hall, we were looking at
the pictures from the past that line the entire hallway, and we noticed something.
A group of pictures in a frame dated 2001 had the words “Vacation Bible
School.” I began to inquire about VBS since then, but no one seemed to know. So
Jessica and I began to pray about VBS. It took two years of praying and working
on God’s time, but He sent us workers and children.

Paul White(Gen
39: 10-21) — Who has not been slandered (have something said about you
that was not true)? I recall hiring a man named Bo to do a job for me. When I
returned, the job was done. Several months later (while in an office full of
people), a man overheard my name and he looked at me and said, “You’re that guy
that didn’t pay me.” “I don’t even know you,” I told him. Then he said that Bo
had hired him to finish that job, and he was never paid. He had run his mouth
about me, even though I had paid Bo (the man I hired) in full. (To be
continued)

WMA Officer Correction (pg. 8)

National WMA President Jodi
Rhea has sent this correction to the listing of WMA officers in the National WMA
Minutes that were included in the Aug. 14 issue of the Baptist Trumpet: Director of Youth Auxiliaries is Laurie Hicks, and
her assistant is Katy Nix.

Scammers Luring Seniors Into Sharing Medicare Numbers
(pg. 8)

Arkansans
eligible for Medicare and Medicaid should beware of scam artists attempting to
steal their new individual Medicare card number. Thieves are actively targeting
older Arkansans by spoofing their caller ID numbers — making the calls appear
to be from a government agency — and luring seniors into sharing their Medicare
card numbers. “Medicare will never call asking for your Medicare card number
because they already have it,” said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “If you
receive a call claiming to be with Medicare, hang up and call the phone number
listed on your account statement.” In 2018, the Center for Medicare and
Medicaid started issuing beneficiary cards with unique identifying numbers in
place of the cardholders’ Social Security Number. The transition period to
Medicare Beneficiary Identifier numbers for all participants is set to conclude
by December 2019.